Method of detection of signals using an adaptive antenna in a peer-to-peer network

Abstract

An adaptive antenna signal identification process to provide increased interference rejection in a wireless data network, such as a wireless Local Area Network (LAN). An adaptive antenna, such as a directional antenna, can be steered to various angle of arrival orientations. For example, the adaptive antenna can be steered to the last known best direction for reception of a particular detected signal. When the invention is deployed in a relay function, messages received from a first node are forwarded to a second node using a recorded direction of best reception from the second node. Storage of the best antenna angle for propagation to neighbor nodes can be handled by control functions in a manner that is analogous to other router lookup tables, such as being contained in a lookup table that stores Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A mobile station configured to conduct wireless communications comprising:
 a directional antenna configured to receive a message; 
 the directional antenna configured to suppress the transmission of an acknowledgement message when the message is correctly received, wherein the suppression of the acknowledgement message forces a retransmission of the message; 
 a controller configured to steer the directional antenna according to a directional angle; 
 the directional antenna configured to receive the retransmission of the message at the directional angle; 
 the controller configured to determine the received signal quality of the retransmission of the message; and 
 the directional antenna configured to suppress the transmission of an acknowledgement message and receive further retransmissions of the message at new directional angles until a desired received signal quality of the message is achieved. 
 
     
     
       2. The mobile station of  claim 1  wherein:
 the controller is configured to record the directional angle of the directional antenna at which the message was received at the desired received signal quality. 
 
     
     
       3. The mobile station of  claim 1  configured as a relay station wherein the directional antenna is configured to receive the message from a first node for delivery to a second node, further comprising:
 the controller configured to determine an identification of the second node from an initial portion of the message; 
 the controller configured to determine, using the second node's identification, a preferred antenna angle for the directional antenna; 
 the controller configured to steer the directional antenna according to the preferred antenna angle; and 
 the directional antenna configured to retransmit the message to the second node. 
 
     
     
       4. The mobile station of  claim 3 , wherein the directional antenna is operated in an omni-directional antenna mode to receive the message from the first node. 
     
     
       5. The mobile station of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the identification of the second node utilizing messages at a protocol layer higher than a physical layer. 
     
     
       6. The mobile station of  claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the identification of the second node utilizing a preamble portion of a Media Access Control (MAC) protocol layer. 
     
     
       7. The mobile station of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the identification of the second node comprises utilizing a link layer establishment message of a link protocol layer. 
     
     
       8. The mobile station of  claim 7 , wherein the link-layer establishment message is a Request To Send (RTS) message. 
     
     
       9. The mobile station of  claim 3 , wherein determining the preferred antenna angle comprises:
 locating the second node's identification in a lookup table storing a predetermined association between a node's identification and its preferred antenna angle; and 
 determining the preferred antenna angle from the stored association for the second node's identification. 
 
     
     
       10. The mobile station of  claim 9 , wherein the second node's identification is an Internet Protocol (IP) address. 
     
     
       11. The mobile station of  claim 9 , wherein the preferred antenna angle corresponds to the best angle for propagation to the second node. 
     
     
       12. The mobile station of  claim 9 , wherein the predetermined association between the second node's identification and its preferred antenna angle is determined by:
 stepping the antenna through a plurality of directional angles; 
 receiving a message from the second node at each of the plurality of directional angles; 
 determining a received signal metric relating to the received signal; 
 identifying the directional angle having the best received signal metric; 
 associating the identified angle with the second node; and 
 recording in the lookup table the association of the identified angle with the second node's identification. 
 
     
     
       13. The mobile station of  claim 12 , wherein determining the preferred antenna angle is repeated for a plurality of nodes and the associations of each identified angle with its respective node's identification is stored in a lookup table. 
     
     
       14. The mobile station of  claim 12 , wherein the received signal metric is selected from the group consisting of: Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI); Bit Error Rate (BER); noise power level; and combinations thereof.